By Gail Hairston

(Sept. 28, 2015) — The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education today announced the two winners of its 2015 Acorn Award for outstanding teachers at the state’s public and independent colleges and universities.

Associate Professor Christia Spears Brown of the University of Kentucky Department of Psychology received the Acorn Award as the four-year-institution representative. Awards were presented at the Governor’s Conference on Postsecondary Education Trusteeship luncheon in Lexington.

"I am honored to receive this award for my teaching," Brown said. "Teaching and connecting with my students is one of the most rewarding parts of my day. My goal is always to engage my students so that they can

Rachel Farr, an assistant professor in developmental psychology at the University of Kentucky, was recently featured in a New York Times article.

The article focuses on Dr. Farr’s research on adoptive children with either two fathers or two mothers. Her study has involved following 49 children over the past eight years.Dr. Farr has many goals for this study which include trying to determine whether children of gay parents are more likely to be teased in school.

The full article can be found at http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/09/07/back-to-school-worries-for-gay-parents/?_r=0. 

By Alicia Gregory

(Sept. 16, 2015) — University of Kentucky REVEAL Research Media presents an inside look at the UK Center for Research on Violence Against Women. This is the nation's only center focused solely on research to address and prevent gender-based violence.

Interviews include:

By Whitney Harder

(Sept. 22, 2015) — D. Allan Butterfield, professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Chemistry and Sanders-Brown Center on Aging (SBCoA), has been awarded a $413,000, two-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to study a new model of Parkinson's disease (PD). 

PD is the second most common age-related neurodegenerative disease in the United States and is manifested by movement abnormalities, postural instability, loss of smell (anosmia), deposition of the protein, alpha-synuclein, and in late stages, cognitive dysfunction. The brain is attacked by free radicals, many emanating from neuronal mitochondria (the

By Jenny Wells

(Aug. 26, 2015) — The University of Kentucky Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence honored its newest class of Chellgren Fellows Sunday, Aug. 23. Five Chellgren Endowed Professorships were also announced. 

The Chellgren Fellows Program is for students with exceptional academic potential and aspirations, who are eager to participate in a special learning community designed to cultivate extraordinary achievement. Outstanding faculty members from across campus serve as individual mentors for the Fellows.

The students selected as 2015-16 Chellgren Fellows include:

•  Sloan Ander, a

University of Kentucky psychologist, Richard Smith, was featured in a recent article in The New Yorker which looks at the differences between envy and admiration. Along with other psychologists featured in the article, Smith, who has been studying envy for over three decades, looks closely at the relation between envy and admiration in today’s society. The full article titled “Can Envy Be Good For You” can be found here.

By Gail Hairston

(Aug. 7, 2015) — Michael Bardo, University of Kentucky professor of psychology and director of the UK Center for Drug Abuse Research Translation (CDART), will serve as a member of the Pathophysiological Basis of Mental Disorders and Addictions Study Section of the Center for Scientific Review (CSR) through June 2017. CSR is the National Institutes of Health’s peer review system to identify the most promising research for treating, curing and preventing disease. NIH is part of the U.S. Department of Health and

By Whitney Harder

(July 17, 2015) — Summer: a time to catch up on neglected projects, reconnect with old friends and tackle that summer reading list. Whether it's an inspiring autobiography, the latest science fiction, or re-reading the classics, many are immersing themselves in a range of literature this season. For professors at the University of Kentucky, they are not only cracking open new books, but reflecting on those that have impacted their lives and careers in surprising ways. 

Read below for the first in a series of professors reflecting on the books that shaped them. 

John Anthony

J. C. Hubbard Professor of Chemistry

Quite a few books have resonated with me over the years. The earliest would be the "Lord of the

By Chris Shoals

(July 1, 2015) — Student-athletes from all eight of Kentucky's spring sports teams combined to earn a total of 84 spots on the Southeastern Conference Spring Academic Honor Roll, Commissioner Greg Sankey announced on Tuesday.


UK's honorees included 22 baseball players, 14 softball players, 13 women’s track and field members, 13 men’s track and field members, eight women’s tennis players, four men’s tennis players, six men’s golfers and four women’s golfers.

A total of 1,191 student-athletes from around the league earned spots on the honor roll, which is based on grades from the 2014 summer, 2014 fall and 2015 spring terms. In order to make the SEC Academic Honor Roll, a student-athlete must have a 3.0 grade-point average for the preceding academic year or his/her entire collegiate career, be at least a sophomore in

By Jenny Wells

(June 26, 2015) — The University of Kentucky hosted the seventh annual Kentucky Girls STEM Collaborative conference, "Go for the Gold," June 12 at E.S. Good Barn, bringing representatives from across the state together to help advance gender equality in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

"We are pleased to provide a forum for Kentucky residents to join us in this endeavor," said Sue Scheff, co-chair of the collaborative. "Our agenda included a full day of speakers and hands-on activities to excite and entertain girls as well as educate the parents, teachers, and community leaders of the many career opportunities available to young people in Kentucky."

Kentucky continues to rank very low in number of scientists and engineers, high-tech jobs, and

By Jenny Wells

(May 8, 2015) — The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees today approved University Research Professorships for 2015-16 for four faculty members. The professorships carry a $40,000 award to support research. Funds for these annual awards are provided by the Office of the Vice President for Research.

Now in its 39th year, the University Research Professors program's purpose is to enhance and encourage scholarly research productivity, to provide an opportunity for concentrated research effort for selected faculty members, and to recognize outstanding research achievement by members of the faculty.

The 2015-16 University Research Professors are:

Lance E. De Long, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, has had a long and uninterrupted record of high

By Blair Hoover, Rebecca Stratton

(May 8, 2015) — Three University of Kentucky students have received the Undergraduate Research Abroad Scholarship (UGRAS), which will support their international independent research projects during the 2015 summer session.

Annie Griggs, a biology major in the College of Arts and Sciences, Faith VanMeter, a psychology major in the College of Arts and Sciences and Marcel Roman, a political science and international studies double major in the College of Arts and Sciences are the recipients of the scholarship — chosen because they demonstrate the ability to explore exceptional academic undergraduate research abroad with the support of UK faculty mentors.  UGRAS is a result of funding from a collaboration between the

By Tony Neely

(April 24, 2015) — Sixty-five University of Kentucky Wildcats earned a place on the 2015 Winter Sports Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll announced by SEC Commissioner Mike Slive.

UK's total of 65 honorees is the fourth-most among the 14 league teams. UK has eight representatives from the men’s basketball team,  six from women’s basketball, 12 from gymnastics, 10 from rifle, 10 from men’s swimming and diving and 19 from women’s swimming and diving. 

The 2015 Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll is based on the grades from the 2014 spring, summer and fall terms. Among other qualifications, a student-athlete must have a grade-point average of 3.00 or above for the preceding academic year or have a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or above in order to make the honor roll, in addition to being a sophomore or higher in

By Clark Bellar

(April 23, 2015) — University of Kentucky's Department of Psychology is hosting the Fifth Annual Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference for Research on Children at Risk 3:30-5 p.m. today, in Kastle Hall Room 213 and 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Friday, April 24, in the King Alumni House Ballroom. All members of the UK and Lexington community are encouraged to attend.

The theme of the conference is risk and resilience during adolescence and childhood. Research presented will address

By Gail Hairston, Whitney Harder

(April 22, 2015) — The University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences will honor its faculty at 4 p.m. today at the William T. Young Library Auditorium.

The recipients of this year's college faculty awards are:

Charles Carlson, psychology, 2015-16 Distinguished Professor. For more information, visit http://uknow.uky.edu/content/carlson-honored-teaching-research-and-service

Beth Guiton, assistant professor of chemistry ‒ Distinguished Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award

Guiton leads a materials chemistry group in the Center for Advanced Materials, investigates chemistry at the nanometer length scale, working at the intersection between solid state chemistry and advanced

By Gail Hairston

(April 17, 2015) — Charles R. Carlson, professor of psychology in the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, has been named the 2015-16 Distinguished Professor in Arts and Sciences. The recognition honors Carlson’s distinction as a scholar, as a teacher and mentor, and by his service to the university and the profession.

Much of Carlson’s research focuses on helping people better manage and control their responses to physical — especially orofacial — and psychological pain. He has published more than 115 papers in this area, including examinations of diaphragmatic breathing strategies. He also developed a virtual reality paradigm that mimics high-risk situations for young women (e.g., sexual assault) and used it to study

By Whitney Harder

(April 16, 2015) — Recognizing their outstanding contributions to teaching and scholarship at the University of Kentucky, two UK faculty members were honored with the William B. Sturgill Award and Albert D. and Elizabeth H. Kirwan Memorial Prize yesterday, Wednesday, April 15, at the annual Faculty Awards Ceremony in the Lexmark Room of the Main Building.

Thomas R. Zentall, professor of psychology in the UK College of Arts and Sciences, was awarded the 2015 William B. Sturgill Award, given each year to a graduate faculty member who has

By Whitney Hale

(April 15, 2015) — University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center will host an opening reception for an exhibit highlighting four undergraduates' Learning Lab internship projects from 3-4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 16, in the Great Hall of the Margaret I. King Library Building. The event will feature presentations from the four Learning Lab interns, including commentary on their scholarly projects.

The Learning Lab internship, now in its third year, is an experiential learning program that introduces undergraduate students to archival processing and theory using rare and

The College of Arts & Sciences is proud to announce the recipients of this year’s College teaching awards, They are Renee Fatemi, physics and astronomy (Outstanding Teaching Award), Moisés Castillo, Hispanic Studies (Outstanding Teaching Award), Charley Carlson, psychology (Outstanding Teaching Award), Anna Voskresensky,